


Pulled Over and In

by funkmetalalchemist



Series: Cop Dad AU [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cop Dad AU, Cop Erwin, M/M, Teacher Levi, can i make it anymore obvious, he was a cop, he was a teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2698262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkmetalalchemist/pseuds/funkmetalalchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi gets pulled over the night before parent-teacher conferences by a remarkably handsome cop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pulled Over and In

Levi wasn’t particularly fond of bright lights. He liked the outdoors well enough (something he would never openly admit) but he always kept a pair of sunglasses on his person. At the moment, his sunglasses were tucked away safely in his bag, as bright lights are generally not a problem at 9:15 PM. He did not, however, account for precisely how blindingly bright the emergency lights on police cars were. Squinting in the rearview mirror and ending a slow exhale with a “ _fuck_ ” Levi turned on his blinker and pulled over.

 Of course it would be the first night of parent teacher conferences that he would be pulled over for the first time in eight years. He didn’t think he’d been speeding. His tabs were up to date. His lights were on. So why exactly was some asshole trying to make him that much later for his date with his mattress?

Levi fished in his glove compartment for his car’s registration and struggled with lifting himself just slightly out of his seat to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket. Levi rolled down the window. In the back of his mind he heard a voice telling him that really he should wait until he’s prompted to get out the information to hand to the officer (being shot wouldn’t be good for him right now- he hadn’t made any lesson plans for the week yet), but he wanted to get through this bullshit as quickly as humanly possible. Levi held the license and registration in his left hand, letting it sit just outside the window. He glanced at the watch peeking out from under his sleeve at his left wrist. 9:16. Great, already one minute behind schedule.

Levi waited. Apparently the cop was in no hurry, and, apparently, despite the fact that there was not another soul on this suburban road at nine o’clock on a Monday evening, this police officer felt the need to continue flashing the blue and red right off of Levi’s rearview mirror and directly into his eyes. Levi closed his eyes tight and started tapping his thumb against the plastic of his license. Jesus shitting Christ, what was taking this officer so goddamn long?

“Good evening,” a voice sounded just outside his window. Levi glanced at his watch (9:17, two minutes wasted now) and then up to the man, thrusting his hand out further and waving the license and registration to him. He looked more military than policeman. Most of the policemen in this town were thicker at the waist and half bald. This guy clearly wasn’t about to let his body go to waste. He was probably around five years older than Levi, and by the looks of it a head and a half taller. He also looked like he probably ought to go up a size in his uniform because it was clinging to him in an altogether obscene way. Where one of his sleeves was rolled up, revealing a pinkish amputation scar, the other opened up to a thick, tanned bicep. Why wasn’t he wearing long sleeves, or a jacket? It was, like, 50 degrees out here. When he took Levi’s registration, their fingertips touched and Levi suppressed an eye roll at precisely how cheesy this felt.

“…Alright, then,” the man began. “Do you know why I pulled you over this evening?”

 _To ruin my chances at a full night’s sleep._ “No, officer, I can’t say that I do.”

“That’s Sheriff. And it’s alright, you’re not in too much trouble. You’ve just got a brake light out.” The man nodded towards the back of Levi’s car as he spoke, and not a single strand of his blonde hair fell out of place. Levi suppressed a grimace. The man was good-looking enough but excessive hair gel was kind of a deal-breaker. Levi inhaled deeply and forced a smile at the man, all the time praying that it was just mousse.

“Do I? I had no idea, I’m so sorry. I’ll get that fixed first thing.” The officer’s – no, _Sheriff_ ’s - lip twitched.

“You don’t have to put on a fake smile for this. Nobody’s ever pleased to get pulled over. Besides, I’m not going to give you a ticket.” The officer was smiling now, and it looked genuine. Meanwhile, the smile disappeared from Levi’s face instantly and he breathed out a sigh of relief, as if he had been straining his muscles for a long time. “I’ll be right back, I’m just gonna go input your information into the computer. I should probably make sure you’re not a felon before I let you off the hook.” With another flash of his white teeth, the man turned to go back to his squad car. As he turned, Levi hunched over in his seat slightly and trained his eye to his side mirror, where he had a clear view of the man’s back as he walked. _Not bad._ Levi suspected it was the lighting and maybe just a little bit the uniform, but for someone in, what, his late thirties? Early forties? For someone of his age, the cop had a hell of an ass. A hell of a body, really. That shoulder-to-hip ratio…

Levi snapped back to reality and breathed out a sigh. He knew he didn’t have the time for a relationship, not now, but goddamn it did he need to get laid. Fantasizing about some guy who had the power to arrest him, cuff him and shove him against a car…

“You’re clear!” came the man’s voice from outside Levi’s window. Levi blinked. _Goddammit._

“Thanks for this,” Levi said, taking back the license and registration that the man offered.

“No problem,” the man replied, putting his hand on his hip, the resting just over his holster. “Just remember to get that brake light fixed.”

“Sure thing, uh,” Levi’s eyes found the man’s ID tag, “Sheriff Smith.”

“Drive safe.”

“Mm-hmm.”

A hell of a night, that’s what this was.

 

* * *

 

Erwin was determined to be as involved as he possibly could in his son, Jean’s life. He volunteered to chaperone every field trip, he joined the PTA, he was assistant coach of his son’s baseball team. He had wanted to be a husband and a father all of his life and now that he wasn’t a husband anymore, all of his effort went toward being the best possible father.

Being a sheriff took a significant slice out of Jean Time. He would have quit ages ago if he didn’t know how much Jean loved to say that his father was the Sheriff, and how much Jean loved to ride around with his deputy Hanji in their squad car now that he was tall enough to ride in the passenger seat (and he would be getting even taller in the next year or so, if he was anything like Erwin). Jean had been a police officer for Halloween for three years straight. It was a hell of a lot to keep in line, but Erwin enjoyed his job and he loved his son, so what difference did it make if he had to work a couple of late nights?

Last night had been one such late night. Not too busy, just a patrol of a few suburban areas. He pulled over one guy in particular who looked kind of cute in a sleepy, grumpy, misanthropic kind of way. And besides, Erwin was in a good mood, so he let him off easy. He could have given him a correctable violation, but the guy was weirdly adorable and Erwin wanted to go home just as badly as that guy seemed to. He had Jean’s parent teacher conferences at the middle school today, and he didn’t want to appear as anything less than the best parent he could be, which meant getting a full eight hours of sleep the night before. If he had gotten a second less than that magic eight last night, he’d hardly be able to be cooking the breakfast he was right now.

It had taken Erwin a while to master the science getting Jean ready for school. Jean’s mother, unlike Erwin, had not been a morning person, a trait that she had unfortunately passed down to Jean. As adorable as the kid was when he was sleepy, he was just that much harder to get ready for the day. After a few years, though, Erwin had it down to an art.

“Just eggs and toast this morning, that okay, son?” Erwin called into the bathroom over the sound of the water running.

“Yeah, that’s fine, thanks,” Jean yelled from the shower, his voice cracking on the last syllable. Erwin smiled fondly. Jean was in something of an awkward phase right now. He had braces that were coming off in 73 days (something that had been updated daily on Jean’s whiteboard for a month now), a haircut that Jean insisted was “cool” (something that Erwin doubted sincerely but didn’t argue with), and apparently now his voice was in the midst of changing. Maybe that growth spurt would come sooner rather than later.

Erwin was just putting some scrambled eggs onto a plate when Jean came out, hair still wet and eyes still tired, but he was dressed, which was good enough at the moment. Erwin poured them both a glass of orange juice and sat down across from Jean, smiling at him. Jean looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“What?” Jean asked, his braces glinting.

“Nothing. Just love you a whole lot, kiddo.” Jean rolled his eyes at this and bit into his toast.

“You too, dad.” Jean gave a small smile as he spoke and Erwin nodded internally – smiles meant Jean was finally awake.

“So, parent teacher conferences are tonight. Am I going to hear any bad news?”

“I don’t think so. All my teachers are pretty nice. Well, Mr. Ackerman’s kind of weird, but he’s also kind of funny. He acts like he hates everyone, but I think he’s just joking, because I talked to him during lunch one day and he was really nice.”

“Acting like you hate everyone doesn’t sound very nice.” Erwin noted, still smiling at his son.

“You just gotta meet him, dad,” Jean said between bites of food. He made to speak again, but Erwin shook his head.

“Ah-ah, not with your mouth full.”

Jean stuck his tongue out, his mouth filled with chewed up food.

“I can see why your teachers love you so much. You’re so charming.” Erwin winked and picked up his plate before rising out of his seat. He unceremoniously dumped his plate into the sink with a small pile of dishes that he’d already stuck a mental sticky note onto to clean tonight. On his way past, he tousled Jean’s hair and kissed him on the top of his head. “Alright, finish up, bud. We’ve got to get going.”

~

Erwin’s day at work hadn’t been too bad. There was a lot of paperwork, mostly investigation reviews. He zoned out a little during the middle of the day, but he didn’t let himself feel too guilty about it. Today was his first slow day in weeks, and he doubted he would have another for a while. So, for a few minutes as he checked his email for anything vitally important, he let himself think about his family, how small it felt and how big it ought to be.

After work, Erwin hadn’t had time to go home before Jean’s conferences would begin, so he went straight there. Jean had been at wrestling practice, so he would already be at the school. Erwin found him waiting outside the gym, speaking with friends.

“Hey, Jean-boy, ready to meet up with your teachers?”

One of the boys next to Jean snickered and Jean elbowed the boy in the gut. The boy shoved him back, and before the fight escalated, Erwin was between them, pushing them apart.

“How’s your school year going so far, Eren?” Erwin turned to the boy Jean had hit, the barest hint of a smile playing on his face. Jean was a model student currently, but unfortunately when he was in fourth grade, he had found himself in the middle of a few minor playground altercations, always with one Eren Jaeger. Jean insisted they weren’t friends, but every spring when Jean’s birthday rolled around, there was always an invitation for Eren in the bunch. Erwin had never experienced a friendship quite like it, but he figured it was something the boys would work out when they were in high school.

“Good, Sheriff Smith, sir. How’s being Sheriff going?” Eren asked, politely as ever. Erwin chuckled lightly. Eren was a firecracker, but he was always polite in his interactions with Erwin. Erwin suspected it was because Eren also wanted to be Sheriff someday. (This was the reasoning behind Eren and Jean’s first argument – both insisted they were Sheriff in the game they were playing. Apparently the argument couldn’t be resolved with conversation and reasoning.)

“It’s going fine, Eren, thanks. Give your father my best. And Armin, how are you?”

Armin, who was standing at the side of their little group, smiled at Erwin.

“I’m good, sir.”

“That’s good.” Erwin smiled at each of the boys in the little group, with one or two unfamiliar faces. Looked like Jean was making friends in wrestling. Good. “Alright, Jean, time to go.” Erwin put his hand on Jean’s shoulder and began guiding him towards the eastern wing of the building, where most of the seventh grade classrooms were. Jean waved back at the small group as they walked away.

“Bye Jean-boy!” Eren called out in a singsong voice from behind them.

“Shut up, Eren!” Jean yelled, making to turn around until Erwin’s hand guided his shoulder back to face the front.

Erwin was quiet for a while as they walked, other parents noisily straightening their kids’ clothes or their own.

“Did I embarrass you?” Erwin finally asked Jean quietly.

“What?” Jean asked, looking confused.

“Calling you ‘Jean-boy’, does that embarrass you? You reacted pretty strongly to Eren calling you that.” Erwin took a corner, assuming Jean would correct him if they were going the wrong way.

Jean paused. “No, not really. I mean it’s a little silly, but it doesn’t bother me when you say it. It was just because Eren was acting like it was a silly thing, I guess.”

Erwin ruffled Jean’s already messy hair and pulled him into his side.

“Good. Alright, where is Ms. Gutierrez’s room?”

Jean led them from classroom to classroom, where each teacher had similarly appreciative remarks to make about Jean. He was well behaved, he did all his homework, and he helped the other kids. A model student. One teacher mentioned that Jean had a tendency to be slightly talkative in class, but beyond that, he received beautiful marks. Erwin glowed with pride.

And then they came to Mr. Ackerman’s room.

The moment Erwin and Jean entered the room, the teacher’s eyes narrowed. Erwin couldn’t shake that something seemed familiar about him. The moment he sat down, Erwin realized what it was.

“I pulled you over last night!” The moment he said it he realized it probably wasn’t the most prudent thing to say. It wasn’t exactly polite conversation and Jean probably wasn’t supposed to know about his teacher’s driving record.

“Seriously?” Jean laughed.

“Jean, shush. I’m sorry, Mr. Ackerman. I guess I didn’t realize that you were the same Mr. Ackerman Jean talks about so much.

Mr. Ackerman, who had been sitting quietly, staring at the two of them with a blank face up until this moment, cleared his throat and began speaking.

“It’s fine. So, what exactly did you want to know?”

Erwin snorted a bit at that. Then he realized Levi wasn’t joking.

“Well, uh, I was hoping you could tell me how Jean’s doing in class, that sort of thing? Typical parent-teacher conference stuff.”

“I don’t think I have to tell you, to be honest. You know Jean, and you’ve visited his other teachers. He’s fine. A good kid. Little short-tempered, but that’s about it. He’ll probably go to a nice college, marry that Jaeger kid and raise two and a half ill-mannered children. You know all there is to know about Jean. There’s really not a need for concern. He’s one of my best students.”

Erwin blinked at the man for a few moments. Beside him, Jean shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The teacher had that kind of tired-in-the-eyes, world-weary look about him. Erwin had seen it last night, too; but, last night he had been quick to lose his smile when he’d realized there was no need to impress Erwin. So, no matter how bluntly it was put, what the man had said must’ve been true. He didn’t seem like a liar.

“That’s pretty much it,” Levi continued. “Do you have any questions?”

“What’s your first name, Mr. Ackerman?” Erwin asked.

“Levi.”

“Well, Levi, I thank you for your honesty. Though I think you might have embarrassed Jean a little bit with the comment about his friend, Eren.” Erwin put his hand in Jean’s hair, smiling now.

“Dad…” Jean was sinking steadily into his seat.

“Well,” Erwin said, standing up, “I think I’ve heard all I need to hear.” Erwin held out his hand. After a moment, Levi grasped it and shook. Erwin noted it was firmer than he’d thought it would be. “Thank you, Levi.”

“No problem.” Levi’s eyes opened wide for a moment, as if he had only just remembered something. Sure enough, he stood up and went to a briefcase lying on the floor a few feet from his desk, mumbling something like “ _Before I forget…_ ” And pulled out something before handing it to Jean. Jean’s face lit up, and he smiled open-mouthed as he took it. It was a small stack of three or four old comic books.

“I saw you reading one in class after your test the other day, figured you might want these. I don’t really have use for them anymore.” Levi looked nonchalant about it, sitting back on the edge of his desk and crossing his arms, but he kept a careful eye trained on Jean as he flipped through the pages excitedly.

“Mr. Ackerman, thank you so much! These are so cool!”

Erwin smiled at Levi, who didn’t smile back, but nodded once.

“Like I said, not a problem. Now go home, the Sheriff could probably use some rest. After all, he was out pretty late last night.” Now it was Erwin’s turn to blush.

“Did you get that brake light fixed?”

Levi sucked in air through his teeth. “Not quite. It’ll get done.”

“Well, get on it. Other officers won’t be as kind as me.” Really Erwin should have ticketed him for that. It was dangerous. But he really had looked so cute…

“I appreciate it.” Levi simply nodded again, apparently dead-set against smiling.

“Alright, then. Let’s go, Jean-boy.” Erwin walked over to Levi to shake his hand again. He realized as he reached out that the man was a full head and a half shorter than him. Somehow Erwin hadn’t noticed it until now. It was kind of adorable. Erwin shook the thought away and grasped his hand, grinning as he looked into Levi’s tired eyes. The corner of Levi’s mouth twitched.

Jean was behind Erwin as they walked out of the class, still absorbed in the comic books. He looked up only to wave goodbye to Levi, who raised a hand into the air in acknowledgement.

Erwin thought about Levi during their quiet walk back to the car. He thought about the muscle on the forearms peeking out of his rolled up sleeves, and about the way his hair almost but never quite fell in front of his eyes. He thought about how honest he had been, and how kind to Jean. The disparity in how he had described Jean’s performance and potential (which had been blunt to the point of slight assholeishness) and the gift of the comics made it difficult for Erwin to tell precisely where Levi stood.

They reached the car, and suddenly Erwin turned around.

“Hey kiddo, can you read your comics here for a minute? I think I forgot something inside.”

Erwin half-jogged back through the building, thanking a woman who laughingly held the door open for him as he made some excuse about forgetting the keys that were clearly dangling from his belt.

He burst into Levi’s classroom, thankfully empty.

“I’d like to take you on a date.” Erwin said. He had been planning on making some excuse for being there, but it felt nice to get the thought out there. His heart still pounded though. It had been so long since he’d asked someone out. It felt strangely juvenile.

Levi was frozen where he knelt on the ground, digging through his briefcase. He stared up at Erwin with a more confused expression than Erwin would have thought the man was capable. Levi straightened up, dusted off the knees of his pants and took a single step forward.

“Alright.”

“Alright what?” Erwin asked, already smiling.

“Alright, when?”

“How about Saturday night? Seven o’clock?” Erwin’s heart still thudded in his chest.

Levi was smiling now. It wasn’t huge, but it was definitely there. He stood up and pulled open a desk drawer, taking out a post-it note and a pen. He scribbled for a moment, and then handed it over to Erwin. Erwin took it in his hand, and glanced down at it briefly, recognizing it as a phone number and an email address.

“Call me tonight and we can decide on a location.” Levi requested, his tone almost business-like.

“Alright, it’s a date.”

“It is.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of my birthday gift to my wonderful friend Katie back in April and I'm just now getting around to publishing it. lol. anyway, this is part of the whole "Levi is Jean's teacher and Jean's dad is Erwin and then Levi and Erwin date also Erwin's a cop" AU, just like my other fic Cop Out. Goddamn, I love that AU.


End file.
